Alabama Rush and First Cuts: Predetermined?

[AnchorAlumna]

As of tonight, roughly 13% have UNDER a 3.0.
Many of them will be released first.
A hefty percentage - I'm not going to guess - withdraw after the second releases (for skit day) when they don't have the "select" 5 or 6 on their list.
A small percentage get fed up by the process and drop out. An even smaller percentage withdraws due to boyfriend pressure, or conflicting schedules, or decide it's not for them, or don't like the stress etc.
There is also a small percentage who don't like their bid and don't even show up at their sorority on bid day, but I don't think that's included in the figures.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

To this day I am floored by numbers like this.

I attended a school where the entire undergrad population was around 5000, meaning about 1200 per class. My freshman class was at approximately a 2:1 male:female ratio, meaning about 400 incoming women. There were only about 150 PNMs in any given year, and that includes the handful of sophomores and up who were either transfers or re-rushing. Total was 80. Quota throughout my collegiate years was 30ish, so after recruitment, most chapters had around 100 members. And one of the reasons my local sorority's founding sisters chose to found their own much smaller sorority is that they felt it was impossible to feel a sisterly bond with 30+ pledge sisters and 100+ chapter sisters.

I attended a prominent engineering school in the Northeast, i.e., I was in a different world.

It's all what you're used to.
When I was a student at Alabama, we had the same number of sororities - actually one more, since Sigma Delta Tau participated in rush at that time. Around 500 to 600 rushed each year, with pledge classes around 30 to 35. The biggest groups had 100 to 125 members; the smallest ones had around 60 or 70.
Of course, at that time there were around 10,000 students on campus. Now, it's 35,000 on campus.

[Greek_or_Geek?]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

As of tonight, roughly 13% have UNDER a 3.0.
Many of them will be released first.
A hefty percentage - I'm not going to guess - withdraw after the second releases (for skit day) when they don't have the "select" 5 or 6 on their list.
A small percentage get fed up by the process and drop out. An even smaller percentage withdraws due to boyfriend pressure, or conflicting schedules, or decide it's not for them, or don't like the stress etc.
There is also a small percentage who don't like their bid and don't even show up at their sorority on bid day, but I don't think that's included in the figures.

Perhaps it's because the majority of the recs I write are for schools that have more competitive admissions standards, but it floors me that in this age of obscene high school grade inflation that such a large percentage of incoming college freshmen would have sub-3.0 GPAs. I can't even remember the last time I saw a rec request for a PNM with a GPA under 3.5 unweighted. Don't get me started on the weighted ones!

[Titchou]

Thanks for slamming our school!

[Greek_or_Geek?]

Originally Posted by Titchou

Thanks for slamming our school!

Who's slamming your school? 15% of your PNMs are under a 3.0 high school GPA. That's Alabama's admissions standards which are different from those I see.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by Greek_or_Geek?

Who's slamming your school? 15% of your PNMs are under a 3.0 high school GPA. That's Alabama's admissions standards which are different from those I see.

Which could just as easily be less grade inflation in the high schools that feed into Alabama. I think class rank is an interesting thing to look at, but GPA is pretty much meaningless.

[28StGreek]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

GPA is pretty much meaningless.

YES! If stellar high school GPAs really translated to college success, mandatory study hours would not exist :-P

That being said, the All-NPC average at USC is well above the All-Women's and All-Undergraduate averages.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by 28StGreek

YES! If stellar high school GPAs really translated to college success, mandatory study hours would not exist :-P

That being said, the All-NPC average at USC is well above the All-Women's and All-Undergraduate averages.

And why is that a meaningful statistic? Any attempt to claim that sororities make your GPA higher is clearly a joke; I'm pretty sure that's clear.

[catfan]

I hate it when people compare the admission standards of private and public schools. Public schools, especially land-grant universities, are chartered to serve the residents of the state where they reside. The Morrill Act of 1862, enacted by Congress, established institutions "so that members of the working class could obtain a liberal, practical education." Private universities serve those who can afford to attend, which is great for those that choose that route. I'm not knocking private schools.
Happy 150th Birthday to the Morrill Act, and our public universities!

[irishpipes]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Which could just as easily be less grade inflation in the high schools that feed into Alabama. I think class rank is an interesting thing to look at, but GPA is pretty much meaningless.

Most of our high schools here have eliminated class rank. I guess it hurts too many students' feelings.

[Greek_or_Geek?]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Which could just as easily be less grade inflation in the high schools that feed into Alabama. I think class rank is an interesting thing to look at, but GPA is pretty much meaningless.

Not when, according to actual Alabama people here, the other 87% of the PNMs have GPAs above 3.0 and for the most part the sororities will drop those who don't. I don't believe that the 13% would represent the only high schools on planet Earth that don't inflate grades.

[sigmadiva]

/swerve/

Originally Posted by irishpipes

Most of our high schools here have eliminated class rank. I guess it hurts too many students' feelings.

How does the school determine the valedictorian, or did they eliminate that too?

/back to thread/

[KSUViolet06]

^^^My brother is currently a senior. He says that they inform the valedictorian that they're #1, but no one else.

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

^^^My brother is currently a senior. He says that they inform the valedictorian that they're #1, but no one else.

Thanks!

[AXOrushadvisor]

Originally Posted by irishpipes

Most of our high schools here have eliminated class rank. I guess it hurts too many students' feelings.

This made me giggle. Do they all get trophies for graduating